Burner igniting device



April 18, 1939. F. I.. Fox

BURNER IGNITING DEVICE Filed Jan. 26, 1937 .l I I I I I I I I I I I I ,I I I I I I I I I I I I I l I I A a In n IIIIIIIII- III- 6 a Y Y; .N a .I M. w J A .IVIIIIIIIIIINIIU I||\ n IIIII IIIIIIInuT J, u l 3 (fl/III* r L VIIJIIJII -IIIQIIQI I -LL 7 0 2 y JI o 2/ @Um d 2 2 Patented Apr. 18, 1939 UNITED sTATEs PATENT oFFlcE BURNER TGNrrmG nEvxcE Frederick L. Fox, Washington, D. O. Application January 2s, 1931, sei-mno. 122,432

4 Claims.

My invention relates to a new and useful ig- I supplied to said main burner, the pilot burner being constantly lighted. Usually. the4 pilot burnerV is normally turned down to provide a sm'all flame and incur a minimum consumption of fuel, means being pQ/ibded to turn the pilot burner up'and provide a larger flame for efflcient ignition of the main urner when the latter is turned on. Very often, as in connection with the main burner in the oven of a gas cooking stove, said main burner is used with the flames thereof turned down relatively low so that such relatively low flames of the main burner are capable of being accidentally extinguished in some way, such'as through sudden closing of the oven door. Obviously, if this should occur when the pilot burner is turned down, the main burner would not be positively re-lighted, at least not completely, with the result that considerable gas would escape from the main burner and fill the oven with the attendant danger of fire and explosion'.

The primary object of the present invention, therefore, is to provide means for automatically turning the pilot burner up when the main burner is turned down relatively low, so that said pilot burner will effectively and completely re-light the main burner in a positive manner should the flames of the latter be accidentally extinguished when so turned down.

More specifically, I contemplate the provision of means which will not only carry out the abovementioned object, but-which will cause the pilot light to be turned down when the main burner is turned off and also when the main burner is turned up to provide relatively large flames which are not easily extinguished accidentally, thereby minimizing consumption of fuel for operation of the pilot burner.

As the above objects of the present invention may be carried out in different ways and through the employment of dierent specific means, the

specific embodimentsof the present invention' shown in the accompanying drawing are merely illustrated by way of example.

(ci. 15s-115) With the above general objects in v'iew, and others that will become apparent as the nature of the present invention is better understood, such invention consists in the novel form, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described. shown in said accompanying drawing and claimed.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic view partly in section, partly in elevation, and partly in plan, illustrating an embodiment of my invention associated with the oven burner of a gas cooking stove.

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical section taken substantially on line 2-2 of Fig- 1 ure 1. Figure 3 is an enlargedfragmentary section taken online 3 3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 1 illustrating another embodiment of my invention.

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary section on line 5-5 of Figure 4; and

Figure 6 is a view somewhat similar to Figure 5 with the movable valve member in a different position of adjustment.

Referring in detail to the drawing, 5 indicates a relatively large main burner, and 6 indicates a pilot burner for igniting said main burner. Fuel is supplied from a pipe 1, the fuel passing from this pipe to a manifold 8, and then through a branch pipe 9 to the main burner 5 under control of a valve l0 interposed in said branch pipe 9. Fuel is also constantly supplied to the pilot burner 6 through a small pipe i l so that said pilot burner is kept constantly burning. If desired, a safety valve I2 of the type generally disclosed in the U. S. patent to C. Ferrari No. 1,624,044 dated April 12, 1927, may be employed in the gas'supply pipe 1 so'as to automatically close when the flow of fuel ceases and to prevent flow of gas to the burners 5 and i should such flow be subsequently resumed, until said valve I2 is manually reopened.

The present invention contemplates the provision of some means for allowing a predetermined restricted flow of gas to the pilot burner 6 when the valve III is closed and the main burner 5 is shut oil, so that said pilot burner 6 is normally turned down and consuming a minimum amount of fuel. Meansis also provided for automatically supplying additional fuel, to the pilot burner i so that the latter is turned up for eillciently and positively igniting the main burner 5 when the valve lll is opened to turn said main burner B on. With the construction of Figure 1,

-this is accomplished by connecting the pipe II with the manifold 8 and providing a valve I3 in the pipe II for regulating the amount of fuel allowed to ow to thel pilot burner 6 from the manifold 8 so that small flames of the desired size will be normally provided by the pilot burner 8 as indicated by dotted lines ata in Figure 1, and by connecting the branch pipe 8 at the outlet side of valve In with the pipe I I at the outlet side f valve I3 by means ofa pipe I4 having a valve I for regulating the flow of fuel therethrough. Thus, when the valve In is opened to supply fuel to the main burner 5, additional fuel is supplied ,to the pilot burner 6 by way of pipe Il so that said pilot burner will be turned up to provide extended jets or flames capable of l'eiliciently and positively igniting the main burner 5, as indicated at a in Figure 1. Obviously, by adjusting the valve I5, the size of the flames when extended at a may be properly regulated. In this embodiment, the valve In may consist of an ordinary control valve of the turn plug type. However, as shown in Figure 4, the pipe I4 and the valves I3 and I5 may be eliminated by employing a special valve Ina in place of the valve In. As shown, the valve Ina has a second relatively small outlet I6 to which the pipe IIv is connected instead of being connected to the manifold n, said outlet I6 being in constant communication with the inlet of valve Ina and manifold n by means of a groove I1 provided in the inner surface of the casing of valve 'I na and providing. for the necessary restricted ow of gas to the pilot burner 6 so that the latter will normally have the small flames as indicated at a.

Further, the movable member I1 of valve Ina has its gas passage I8 enlarged at one end as at I8 so as to afford unrestricted iiow of gas from the manifold n to the pipe II when said movable valve member l1 is in open position as shown in Figure 6, thereby allowing the necessary additional ilow of fuel to the pilot burner 6 to cause the latter to beturned up and provide or afford the extended flames as at a when said valve Ina is opened and the main burner 5 is turned on. In either or both embodiments, an automatic thermostatic temperature control valve lmay be employed for regulating the temperature within the oven or chamber 2n heated by the main burner 5, said automatic thermostatic temperature controlling valve being indicated at 2I and being of the type generally disclosed in the patent to R. E. Newell et al. No. 1,998,818, dated April 23, 1935. If such a thermostatic temperature control valve is employed, it is simply necessary to interpose the same in the pipe 8 between the valve In or the valve Ina and the main burner 5 as shown in Figure 1 and in Figure 4, the thermo-sensitive element 22 of said valve 2| being of course located in the chamber 2n as usual.

An essential part of the present invention is the provision of means for automatically turning the pilot burner 6 down after the main burner 5 has been turned on and lighted by said pilot burner and for keeping said pilot burner 6 turned down as long as said main burner 5 is burning and turned on relatively high so that its .flames are not readily extinguished accidentally, thereby avoiding wasteful consumption of fuel by the pilot burner. Another important feature of the present invention is the provision of such means so that it Will automatically cause the pilot burner n to be turned up when the main burner 5 is turned down to a point where it proflame of the main burner duces relatively small flames readily extinguished accidentally, whereby said main burner 5 will be effectively and positively re-lighted in case its flames should become accidentally extinguished when so turned down, thereby preventing escape of gas from the main burner 5 into the oven or chamber 2n and creating a fire or explosion hazard.l As shown, these results may be had by providing a thermostatically operated control valve 22 for the pilot burner 6 interposed in the pipe I I, the thermosensitive element 23 of the thermostatic means for operating the valve 22 being so arranged that it will not respond to the general temperature of radiated heat in the oven or chamber 2n, but will be contacted by and thereby respond only to the direct heat of the ame of main burner 5 itself. This is accomplished by mounting the thermo-sensitive element 23 so that a portion of the flame of the main burner 5 plays directly upon ment 23 as illustrated in Figure 2, the arrangement further being such that when the burner 5 -is turned on and the thermo-sensitive element 23 is unheated, the valve 22 will be fully opened as shown in Figure 3. Obviously, if the burner 5 is burning and turned up high, the thermosensitive element 23 will expand so as to operate the valve 22 and turn the pilot burner 6 down, as well as to keep such pilot burner turned down as long as the main burner 5 is lighted and turned up relatively high. On the other hand,

should the main burner 5 be turned down relapoint where it provides small pf being readily extinguished affording relatively. little heat,

tively low to a flames capable accidentally and the thermo-sensitive element 23 will expand to,

a certain extent and cause the pilot burner 6 to be turned up for producing extended iiames capable of efficiently and positively re-lighting the main burner 5 in case its flames should be accidentally extinguished when so turned down relatively low.

Obviously, the thermostatic actuating means for the valve 22 may be of any specific construction or type, and the valve 22y may be located either within or outside the chamber or oven 2n.

When the valve In or Ina is closed and the main burner 5 is turned oif, the pilot burner 6 will be turned down to provide the small flame as at a, although the valve 22 is fully opened at this time. This is due tothe fact that no fuel is supplied through pipe I 4' in Figure 1 and only a limited supply of fuel is allowed to pass to the pilot burner 6 from manifold 8 by the valve I 3, or only a limited amount of fuel is allowed to flow to the pilot burner 6 in Figure 4 by way of groove I1 as shown in Figure 5. Howeven'if the valve In or Ina is opened fully as is ordinarily done when turning the main burner 5 on, additional fuel will be simultaneously supplied to the main burner 6 either by way of pipe Il of Figure 1 or by way of the enlarged bore portion I8 of valve member I'I' in Figure 4 as shown in Figure 6. This results in turning the pilot burner 6 up when the main burner 5 is turned on so as to provide the extended ame a capable of positively and effectively igniting the main burner 5. As a portion of the 5 plays upon the thermo-sensitive-element 23, it is soon heated and expanded so as to operate the movable member of valve 22 and turn the pilot burner 6 down again, as well as to maintain said pilot burner in turned down condition as long as the main burner is turned up relatively high. Should the main capable of being said thermo-sensitive ele-A f the main burner 5 into 50 controlling arcaica burner i be turned down relatively low so as to provide relatively small flames which might be readily e accidentally, either through operation of valve i0 or lla or thermoetatic control valve 2l, the small flames from burner I will allow theA thermo-sensitive element 23 to cool to a great extent and expand so as to operate lthe movable member of valve I2 and twin the pilot burner 0 up so that said pilot burner ailords relatively large or extended flames capable of effectivelytand positively re-lighting the main burner 5 in case its relativelysmall flames should become accidentally extinguished from any cause. It will thus be seen that I have provided a means whereby operation of the main burner I is partially or completely extinguished condition is prevented so as to prevent gas from escaping from and filling the chamber or oven 2li with the consequent creation of a nre or explosion hazard. It will further be seen that 'this means provides for the eective and positive lighting or re-lighting of the main burner at all times, although minimizingconsumption of fuel by the pilot burner due to the fact that the latter is turned down whenever the main burner is turned off or turned up relatively high.

What I claim as new is:

1. In combination, a main burner, a manually operable valve for controlling the now of fuel to said main burner, a pilot burner for igniting said mainl burner, and a thermostatically operated valve for controlling the flow of fuel to said pilot burner, said thermostatically operated valve having its thermo-sensitive element arranged so that a portion of the name of the main burner will play directly thereon for automatically causing the pilot burner -to be turned down when said manually operable valve is actuated to turn the main burner up and for automatically causing the pilot burner to be turned up when said manually operable valve ia actuated to turn the main burner down.

2. In combination, a main burner, a pilot burner for igniting said main burner, means including a manually operable control valve for turning the main burner on and simultaneously turning the pilot burner up and for turning the main burner of! and simultaneously turning the pilot burner down, and a thermostatically operated valve for the iiow offuel to said'pilot burner,

operated control said thermostatically operated valve having its thermo-sensitive element arranged so that a portion of the flame of themain burner will play directly thereon for automatically causing the pilot burner to be turned down when said manually operable valve is actuated to turn the main burner up and for automatically causing the pilot burner to be turned up when saidlmanually operable valve is actuated to turn the main burner down.

3. In combination, an inverted main burner, a manually operable valve for controlling the ilow of fuel to said main burner, a pilot burner for igniting said main burner, a valve for controlling the flow of fuel to said pilot burner, and thermostatically operated means for actuating said lastnamed valve including a thermo-sensitive element arranged adjacent said main burner so as to be contacted by and to respond onlyto the direct heat of the main burner llame for automatically turning the pilot burner, up when said manually operable valve is actuated to turn the main burner down and for automatically turning the pilot burner down when said manually operable valve is actuated to turn the main burner up.

4. In a gas cooking, `stove. the combination 'of an oven, a main burner for heating said oven, a -pilot burner for igniting said main burner, means including a manually operable control valve for turning the 'main burner on and simultaneously turning the pilot burner up and for turning the main burner oil.' and simultaneously turning the pilot burner down, an adjustable thermostatically valve arranged between said main burner and said manually operable control valve for automatically turning the main burner down when the oven is heated to a predetermined temperature, a valve arranged Ibetween said manually operable control valve and saidpilot burner for controlling the ilow of fuel to said pilot burner, and thermostaticaliy operated means for actuating said last-named valve to automatically turn the pilot burner up when said' main burner is turned down by said thermostatically operated control valve, said thermostatically operated means including a thermo-sensitive element arranged so that a portion of the name of the main burner will play directly thereon.

FREDERICK L. rox. y .o 

